The Blind Man Society

I chose this title today, because I know many people out there who qualify as a D’Artagnan from Three Musketeers. And, an equal or greater number of people who appear to be high – and I wrote this on a Wednesday. All of them, possessed the Eye of the Tiger that day, I can tell you.  SO, without further ado…

I moved recently, and the old shop is no more. I am at a new, unspecified shop now sitting in a fenced in area 250-450 square feet large – and I call it the crib. What it is a cradle of, I have not yet decided, but this place is really nice and the people here are wonderful. I bring this up because, change, is a good thing.

I spent the off time putting together a new page on the site, I’ll have it up in a couple days.  Its four pictures of contributing writers and a short bio for each.  I’m a little freaked to play around with the site in case I screw it up, but confidence is high that things will work out.  Well.

I’m backpacking a lot these days, bought a one-person tent to stay out under the moon and stars, and to walk a bit further and a bit more each time I went out.  Eventually, I would love to walk the hundred plus miles to get to the ocean and stay on the beach for a week or so.  Then, turn around and walk back.

I’ve become very observant during this time period, and making mental maps of areas and people is an addictive, and very useful skill.  There is, I think, a great benefit to knowing exactly where you are, and where you can go – especially if you lose your hardcopy map.  I know, I know – there are Lonely Planet and Let’s Go travel guidebooks for the same purpose out there (I used these in Africa and Europe and they are excellent) but I like Michael Ondaatje’s ideas of mapmaking (he’s the author of The English Patient and In the Skin of a Lion) and using and leaving markers along the way, like breadcrumbs, to find your way home.  And, as I’ve learned lately, you don’t have to be in a foreign country to have local adventures in the suburban or concrete jungles that are out there.

I bought a handheld voice recorder for stories and ideas in the off time too.  In these times we live in, I think a lot about the oral tradition, vs. tech to record and explore creativity and thoughts.  While my voice sounds mighty strange coming back to me now, I am fast becoming a fan of recording information and stories that way.  To the best of my knowledge, they are never messed with like computers can be, and not quite as heavy or bulky as a traditional typewriter.  And, they are cheap to pick up too!

To distill, I have been preparing and accumulating ammo for a great Season 4 on the site.  According to Spiritual Mathematics, four is a pretty great number – and it means a few more things than apocalypse!  Or, so I’ve been told anyway.  Laughing.  I’m remembering just how important it is to recharge your batteries, take care of yourself, and then come back to make it happen.  Fans of Doc Savage, the character will remember that he took six months off out of the year to go to his place to read and contemplate.  The rest, was putting everything he learned into practice out in the world.  Book Smarts vs. Street Smarts and maintaining the balance and skill at both.

**Side note: After being chased on foot by a few feral dogs around here, I can tell you that reciting hourglass and circle philosophy as I ran didn’t do much in that situation.  But, knowing how to climb a tree until they left sure did…

Have a great day, everyone!  I know this blog was a bit winding, but Tangent Man is busy knocking the rust off after almost a month off  – and the next one will be better.  Season 4 commence!